At 10:03 CET (4:03 am EDT) on Wednesday morning, the Rosetta mission's Philae lander separated from the Rosetta satellite to begin a 7 hour drop onto Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface. This image was taken just after separation by the lander's CIVA-P imaging system. One of Rosetta's 14 meter-long solar arrays can be seen in shot.

Shortly before landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Philae's Rosetta Lander Imaging System (ROLIS) panoramic camera captured this stunning photo of the landing site, proving that it was on target. Philae was 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the comet's surface at the time.

The red cross marks the spot where Philae should have landed. Although the lander was originally on target and did touch down there, the robot bounced as it could not anchor itself, causing it to land, a second time, 1 kilometer away. Rosetta mission scientists believe Philae came to rest somewhere near the cliffs in the upper-right of this image of Comet 67P's surface.

This is the first panoramic view taken on a comet's surface. The view, unprocessed, as it has been captured by the CIVA-P imaging system, shows a 360 degree view around the point of final touchdown. The three feet of Philae’s landing gear can be seen in some of the frames.